Athena and Ares stared each other down on the battlefield. The god of war had lost an arm and his helmet, his armor was shattered, and his body was drenched in blood.

  Athena, on the other hand, stood fully recovered—this time with silver eyes. She carried no spear, merely gazing at the god of war with an expression of calm and absolute serenity.

  "Athena of the gray eyes. I had heard that title of yours before. Some idiots in Athens worshiped you by that name, along with Athena the Virgin," Ares said mockingly.

  "That is correct, Ares. At this moment, your probability of victory is 0.00000000000000000001288405093%," the goddess replied in an almost robotic tone.

  "Do you think I should fear you just because you changed your eyes? Don’t make me laugh, sister!" Ares roared as he formed a red spear in his hand and hurled it at her.

  Athena observed the spear and, even while moving, dodged it—lightly touching its exact center with a single finger. The weapon shattered instantly.

  "Your technique concentrates its gravitational point at the center. If I apply minimal force there, it cannot maintain balance and collapses," Athena explained.

  "Don’t get so full of yourself!" Ares shouted, raising his hand and enveloping it in red energy as he lunged to strike her.

  Athena evaded the attack with the smallest possible movement, then drove her right hand—shaped like a blade—straight into the god of war’s abdomen, piercing him as if through butter.

  Ares screamed in agony.

  Athena withdrew her hand and hopped lightly backward, kicking Ares away with effortless precision. The god crashed several meters away, vomiting blood.

  "Brother, at this moment I am statistically predicting trillions of probabilities based on your heart rate, movement patterns, habits, breathing, and combat style. From this data, I can determine your next action with absolute precision. I can also calculate your weight distribution, gravitational center—everything. That is the power of my gray eyes," Athena stated, her voice still devoid of emotion.

  "That’s… impossible. Is it like Apollo’s prophetic gift?" Ares asked.

  "No. It is far superior," Athena replied.

  Ares formed a massive crimson sphere in his hand and shouted, "I orgí tis Spártis (The wrath of Sparta)!"

  He hurled the attack at his sister with all his strength. Athena merely touched the energy at a precise point, and it vanished.

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  Prepared for this, Ares had already conjured several red spears around himself. The instant Athena dispelled the attack, he launched them all at her.

  With elegant movements, Athena touched some of the spears, disintegrating them instantly. Others—those she calculated would miss—she allowed to fall harmlessly to the ground.

  Ares barely processed what had happened before Athena appeared beside him. Her hand, once again shaped like a blade, pierced his kidney and ripped it out.

  A torrent of blood burst from Ares as Athena tossed the organ into the void and returned to her original position with a short, graceful leap.

  "I am… stronger than you!" Ares screamed.

  "Irrelevant," Athena replied.

  Ares collapsed to his knees. His screams of agony slowly turned into a twisted, macabre laugh.

  "I still have an ace up my sleeve," he said, lifting his gaze toward his sister.

  His fingers stretched unnaturally, elongating like whips, and lashed toward Athena.

  "I never showed this to anyone before—there is no way you could have predicted it!" Ares shouted.

  Athena’s expression did not change.

  She evaded the attack effortlessly, moving with minimal, dance-like rotations. She positioned herself beside her brother’s arm and severed it cleanly with her blade-shaped hand.

  Ares howled in pain.

  "Impossible! How did you predict that?!" he gasped.

  "A cowardly technique like that fell within the range of possible actions. I simply anticipated your surprise and responded accordingly," Athena answered.

  "No—sister, wait! Mercy! Mercy! Don’t kill me!" Ares sobbed as he dragged himself across the ground, now missing both arms.

  "Do not worry, brother. I do not intend to kill you. I merely need to drain enough of your ichor for the Chronoxiphos to vanish," Athena replied calmly.

  "If it’s about the Chronoxiphos, I can make it disappear! I swear!" Ares said, forcing a nervous smile.

  "There is an 83.6789320912% probability that you would break that promise. I have therefore decided not to take that risk," Athena replied.

  "Wait! Sister! Forgive me!" Ares screamed.

  In that instant, Athena leapt forward and drove her blade-shaped hand into Ares’s neck.

  With a swift, sword-like motion, she severed his head.

  Ares’s head fell to the ground as his body collapsed lifelessly. His consciousness, however, remained.

  The Chronoxiphos immediately redirected itself toward Anpiel.

  Epona ran to stop it—but Tania seized her by the hair, stepped into her place, and hurled Epona aside.

  "If someone must die today, then it will be me, Epona," Tania said, spreading her arms to receive the blade.

  "But you said it was useless!" Epona screamed in terror.

  Tania answered only with a gentle smile.

  Ana, Epona, Rodrigo, and the others cried out in horror—but just millimeters before the sword touched Tania’s body, it vanished.

  "It… disappeared! It disappeared!" Epona shouted joyfully.

  "My master did it!" Ana cried in triumph.

  Tania relaxed and smiled.

  "I knew this would happen," she said calmly.

  "If you knew, then you shouldn’t have stopped me!" Epona snapped angrily.

  "She’s lying. I’ve known her for a long time—she always pretends to be stronger than she is," Ana said.

  Tania smiled—and to everyone’s astonishment, she burst into laughter. It was rare to see her display such joy.

  Deep down, Ana felt happy to see her friend genuinely smiling for the first time.

  Athena’s eyes returned to their normal color. As if freed from an immense burden, she relaxed her body. Then she walked over to Ares’s severed head and lifted it by the hair. Ares was still conscious.

  "Very well, little brother. I have left 0.1% of your ichor intact. A single blow could end you, so you understand that you are entirely at my mercy now. And now, I wish to know why Anat orchestrated this confrontation," Athena said calmly, as Ares’s head trembled, drenched in terror.